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Skyfall, Bond, And Adele Go Large, But Will They Sell to America?

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - NOVEMBER 03: Dame Judy Dench and Daniel Craig attend a photocall with cast and filmmakers to mark the start of production which is due to commence on the 23rd Bond Film 'Skyfall' at Massimo Restaurant & Oyster Bar on November 3, 2011 in London, United Kingdom. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Twitter sentiment is about 3:1 positive to negative, for James Bond and more than 4:1 positive for Skyfall, a small suggestion that this is a very well liked version in the franchise. Overall social media sentiment is just about in line with that for James Bond (I used veooz.com to check) and for Skyfall (just 4:1).

The question in my mind is a complex one. The movie is incredibly English – in fact at one point Bond (Daniel Craig) announces himself, English, and strains not to add “and proud of it,” even though the climax of the film is in Scotland, where Bond was brought up.

So how come English, or indeed Britishness because this is not only about England, is selling around the world?

The movie is almost wholly set in London (yes, there are exotic locations but they are irrelevant to the plot) and a good deal of it underground.

Veooz gave me this comment from all the thousands out there and I think it sums up the movie’s strengths:

“The plot is bit Rockyesque and childish but it pulls it off. Not a particularly beefy bond movie in terms of script but this is made up for by some of the best acting seen in a bond movie of all time.”

The acting in fact is hampered by some bad scripting – several times in the film the actors are forced to act as though there is a surge of sexual innuendo at work between them, when in fact there’s just poor writing that lacks connectivity.

But what is really getting Bond its great social media coverage is also the very astute product placement and the movie’s engagement with the broader, traditional media.

For example, women’s magazine, Marie Claire, in the UK, has a best Bond girls ever feature (there are many of those around), there are tweets about Craig’s customized Barbour in the Scottish scenes, the use of Heineken beer (Bond has a John Lennon style lost weekend simply so that he can drink lager for once), the use of a Jaguar (last time out Bond drove a BMW), and there’s a marketing push from Sony – the movie uses its laptops and devices (when all the best movies have Apple).

The true strength of the movie might be its opening sequence but the problem it will encounter in the USA is that these characters are simply too British, the plot we are asked to care about too wrapped up in British sentiment, particularly around actress Judi Dench.

It is mawkish and it attempts to resurrect an appeal in a type of Britishness that the 1960s laid to rest but which Bond has been giving moth-to-mouth ever since, never more so than here. My feeling is that social media in American will work against it – social is a global culture and I doubt it will go for a ring-fenced film.

It will be a miracle if the movie pulls off a record performance in the USA, despite what looks like solid brands behind it, which let’s also be honest are not that appealing to a US audience either.

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I see. So, America can’t cope with anything that isn’t to do with the United States (or American patriotism), but yet the rest of the world is force fed these same American movies, and expected to gawp over them and love them?

God, Americans are so full of themselves. Learn to take in other country’s cultures for once.

At the age of 54 I have grown up in the UK and I,like all my genereation,have been subjected to jingoistic, American patriotism via Hollywood and TV ad nauseam.I am not complaining in fact I love most things American ,but for once we produce a British film ,based on a British character,by a British writer and you have the temerity to complain that its patriotic!How hypocritical can you get!For once just see it for what it is and don’t turn your nose up because its not got any US characters or actors.Its a very good film ,as you admit si just enjoy it.Sniping is not a very attractive characteristic,or is it actually a little jealousy?I don’t expect it to be a massive US hit, but I think enough of your fellow citizens are capable of looking beyond your borders now and will actually enjoy a very good action movie, with great acting and a decent storyline.

I disagree that it would be a miracle if the film is a success in the USA. You say social is a global culture yet the english language predominates it. Most people of a certain fiscal class around the world still go to work in suit and tie reminescent of the age of the British empire. British culture , the culture stemming from the british empire is the most lasting of all european cultures and has a place wherever the sun has set. And, the USA has always been the child of britain and france.

In the last 20 years, I have been working and studying in the UK. I have to admit this is a very good glance of the mentality and attitude that Britains sometimes have. However, I think they have some mental style and strength, I would be happy to see more Germans showing it for their country and achievements.